A German Girlfriend
by GryffinPuffGirl
Summary: The story of how one girl singlehandedly gains the boyfriend of her dreams AND completely confund his family, all in the space of a few months.
1. Chapter 1

Basking in the sunshine, Larna breathed a sigh of relief that her owls were over. Finally, she could have a break from revision and think about other things; friends, boys... Just one boy. As if by magic - she laughed at her own joke - Fred trotted over to the tree Larna was under and sat down beside her.

'No George today then?,' she asked.

'No, he's too busy snogging the face off Angelina.'

Suits me fine, Larna thought. The conversation lapsed and a period of silence fell. It wasn't uncomfortable, just mutual.

'Do you..?,' Larna started after a while.

'How about..?,' Fred began, at the same time. The pair giggled, then Fred continued;

'How about we go for a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks next weekend in Hogsmeade?,' he asked, adding nervously, 'Only if you want to, of course.' Larna smiled and gently brushed his ginger hair from his face.

'Do you know how long I've waited for you to ask?' He returned her smile and, lifting her hand from his face, held on tightly.

'Then it's a date.'

* * *

Walking down the stairs from the Ravenclaw common room, Larna brushed down her dress. 'Is it too much?' she thought. 'Will he notice?' She reached the bottom and caught sight of Fred's ginger locks, shining in the sunlight. She called his name softly, and he turned, stopping in his tracks as he caught sight of her, taking note of the longer lashes, plumper lips, curlier, silkier hair and more visible legs.

'You look... stunning!,' he gasped, and the corners of his mouth almost reached his ears. Smiling softly, she giggled.

'Thanks.' When she reached him, he took her arm in his and they began walking towards Filch.

'Shall we?' he whispered into her ear.

'Of course.' And so they began to cross the courtyard on their way to Hogsmeade.

This weekend in particular was gloriously beautiful, and both Fred and Larna thought it showed off each other's best features. In Larna's expert view, Fred's best feature was of course his long, soft, red hair; she was mesmerised by the way the sun's rays bounced off it into the air. She longed to touch it, to feel its silky smoothness in her fingers...

As she thought about this, Fred was also daydreaming. Her eyes, her perfect sapphirescent eyes. The way they lit up when she saw him, the way they twinkled when he told a joke, and the way they sparkled in the sun; that was something he could - and wanted - to get used to.

The pair spent the entire walk to Hogsmeade in this manner; neither of them saying a word, each enjoying the other's company. They occasionally shared a soft smile and both were glowing inside.

The spell was broken with the sound of footsteps behind them. Larna's heart dropped - who could be intruding in their peace? Larna glanced towards Fred, who hadn't heard the footsteps. Then she turned around and her worst fear was realised. Malfoy. Of course; who else would want to interrupt and spoil their happiness?

'Price and Weasley! That's one I never thought I'd hear,' he snarled.

'Leave us alone.' Fred's tone was serious, something Larna had never heard before.

'Isn't she a bit - well dressed - for you Weasley?' Draco continued in his arrogant, drawling voice. 'After all, you've never seen new clothes, have you?'

That was it. Something in Larna snapped, and she had to do something to defend the boy she loved.

'How dare you!' she shouted at him. In an instant she pulled out her wand and chose her hex - 'Fernunculus!'

Immediately Larna knew her spell had worked; she had cast it with such anger 'boiling' in her blood that within seconds Malfoy's once pale face was now covered in angry red blisters. Larna smiled contentedly and walked away with Fred, leaving Draco standing there in the middle of the road, shouting insults she couldn't hear.

'Thanks,' Fred said, looking at her with a mixture of awe and gratefulness. 'No one's ever defended me like that before.'

Larna giggled slightly and squeezed his hand tighter.

'Well I've never defended someone like that before, but... you're different. You're kind, and funny, and sweet, but most of all, you're mine.'

In that split second, Fred decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Larna; after her declaration, there was nowhere else he'd rather be than by her side. 'Best not tell her that yet though,' he thought, grinning to himself. 'We've not known each other long; it might freak her out a bit.' So instead he stopped in the road, outside Madame Puddifoot's, and gazed into her eyes.

'I love you,' he whispered, barely audible. But it was enough. Suddenly Larna knew she wanted this never to end; her lips were on his, and they kissed. Euphoria was dominant in both of them and then they let go, each looking at the other and dreaming, believing in their future. There were a few moments then, when Larna was unsure what should happen next. But as usual, Fred's sense of humour broke the ice. Gesturing towards the tea shop, he asked casually,

'Want a cuppa?,' and Larna burst into laughter.


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks had passed since 'the kiss' as Larna had dubbed it, and all the shyness in their relationship had disappeared, replaced by sincere adoration of each other. They were comfortable now, happy spending time together. Fred knew he had never felt like this before, and he was determined to make it last. So, after a breakfast spent smiling at Larna from across the house tables, he ran from the room before she had a chance to speak to him.

'What have I done?' Larna mumbled to herself. 'He's never done that before.' And she went to Charms class feeling quite glum.

Fred, meanwhile, was quite the opposite. He had spent the few remaining minutes before the start of the day making plans.

'This is going to be huge!' he said aloud; the Gryffindor boys' dormitory was empty besides him. 'I can't wait to see the look on her face!' And, whistling, he began to make his way towards Herbology.

* * *

Larna saw Fred at breaktime; she confronted him about the morning.

'Oh, sorry about that,' he apologised. 'I'd just forgotten my herbology book.'

But Larna wasn't convinced. However, she let it go.

'When are we gonna let people know, about us?,' she asked Fred. 'I mean, I think it's quite noticable now.'

Fred hesitated - and Larna panicked, her heart dropping.

'Are you... ashamed of me?,' she asked, thunderstruck. The very thought was terrifying.

'No, of course not!' Fred replied sharply, shocked at her thoughts. 'I just want to tell my family first. Don't worry, I've got it covered.'

With full trust in Fred, Larna calmed down again and changed the subject. 'So what lesson do you have now?'

* * *

'Dear Mum...' Fred began his letter. 'How should I phrase this?,' he thought. 'Ahh, I know.' And he wrote the whole letter within a few minutes: 'I know the Summer holidays are nearly here, so I wanted to ask...'

Meanwhile, Larna was writing to her best friend who was a muggle and went to the school Larna herself would have gone to had it not been for her Hogwarts letter.

'Dear Lacey, I can't wait to see you. Life at school is great now; there's this boy, Fred. He's my world, Lay, he really is. He makes me laugh, and smile, and glow inside; I've never been this happy before. When I get home, I'll show you a picture. I.. I think I love him; I'll miss him so much when we're off school. Anyway, I hope you're okay...'

When both had written their letters, they bumped into each other in the Owlery.

'Hey,' Fred greeted Larna, hugging her tightly. 'How are you?' Grinning, Larna replied, 'Loads better for seeing you.'


	3. Chapter 3

As the end of term approached, Larna became increasingly unhappy, smiling less and less, despite Fred's attempts to cheer her up. She wouldn't tell him what was wrong, until a week before the start of the holidays, when she finally cracked under his questioning.

'I didn't want to tell you; it's silly really. It's just... 2 months without seeing you is going to be tough for me. I love you Fred, and I don't think I can bear that much time apart.'

Fred looked at Larna with a twinkle in his eye and pulled her close to him, squeezing her tightly.

'Well, I was feeling like you are, but I did something about it. I wrote to mum. She said you can come to stay for the last four weeks of summer.'

That was it. Fred's words made the stone in Larna's stomach vanish, and filled it instead with a warm glow, making her feel light and carefree. She was no longer faced with the prospect of spending the whole summer pining for Fred; rather, she would spend the first half looking forward to the second half! For a few minutes, she said nothing. Then she leant over to Fred, kissed him, then gripped his hand.

* * *

The last day of term arrived, and overall, Larna was relieved to be having a break from school. Yes, she would miss Fred, but the thought of seeing him in four weeks, as well as meeting his parents, was something she was both excited and apprehensive about.

As the students were going home tomorrow, lessons were cancelled for the last day, so Fred + Larna spent the morning strolling the grounds in the sun. As Larna walked, she saw that people noticed her and Fred together; everyone must have guessed by now. However, as far as she knew, he had kept it from his family until 'the right moment'. She wondered what Fred meant by this; surely any time was okay to tell people they were together. 'I hope he's not planning everything big,' she thought to herself. 'I'm not very good at dealing with embarrassment.'

Meanwhile, Fred was finalising the arrangements of the plan in his head. 'Mum will have to be in the garden when she gets to the Burrow,' he decided. 'Dad will have to know what's going on. And I'll get Ginny to help Larna sort her hair out.' This was going to be a very big announcement indeed.

* * *

Larna had already packed and unpacked several times, but here she was again, one week before leaving for the Burrow, packing her suitcase with things she neither needed nor would eventually bring. However, it kept her busy, and stopped her dwelling on the confusion she was feeling. Last week she had received a letter from Fred, one which immediately sent her into a state of total misunderstanding:

'Dear Larna, I have big plans for introducing you to my family, but it involves a certain amount of acting. I hope you don't mind dying your hair temporarily ginger; the thing is, we're going to pretend you're a long lost niece of my dad's. He and Ginny are both in on it; Ginny will help you with your hair. Also, you'll need to use your German to pretend you don't know a word of English. The story is that you came to Hogwarts to learn English and you knew your cousins were here...'

Larna was extremely confused by everything Fred had written; how was this a good way of being introduced to his family? 'It's a good job I trust him,' she thought.


	4. Chapter 4

The day had arrived. Larna was going to Fred's and each was looking forward to it just as much as the other. On Fred's part, he just hoped and prayed Larna's acting was convincing. He went to meet her at the train station in Ottery St. Catchpole and together, they began walking towards the burrow. They couldn't hold hands or they'd give the game away, although both wanted to.

When the pair arrived at the Weasley home, Mrs Weasley was ridding the back garden of gnomes, as Fred had planned. This meant Larna could run upstairs before anyone noticed their arrival, and dye her hair with Ginny. She then came down the stairs to a warm reception by the whole family, receiving a quick wink from Mr. Weasley. She smiled and said,

'Gutentaag. Ich habe gerade verwendet Ihre Toilette, ich hoffe, Sie haben nichts dagegen.' Of course, none of them had a clue what she had said, and Larna could see Molly becoming irritated already. This made her want to laugh: if only she knew.

Arthur cleared things up by saying,

'Well, this is my German niece who will be staying with us for the rest of the summer. I hope you'll all be really friendly with her, as Fred has been in school.'

Then Fred piped up,

'Yeah; she came to Hogwarts to learn English, but she's not made much progress yet.'

'As we can see,' George remarked sarcastically. For the first time Larna noticed him; he was like Fred in almost every way, except one. He didn't look at her in the same way Fred did. She began to dream about time with Fred, until Ron said,

'How are we supposed to understand her if she doesn't speak English?'

'Precisely what I was thinking,' Molly joined in. 'When you said you wanted your Dad's niece to stay, Fred, you didn't mention she was German!' Larna bit back a giggle; Mrs Weasley's fiery temper was there again; something she'd seen very rarely in Fred.

'It'll be fine,' Ginny said, and Larna thought to herself, 'Oh yes, it will.'

* * *

After 2 days in the Weasley household, Larna was becoming tired of acting, and as a result, was less convincing. Molly kept looking at her suspiciously, and remarking on the amount of time she spent with Fred, said,

'You do have other cousins here, you know.'

Each time this was repeated, Larna just feined innocence and said

'Es tut mir leid, ich verstehe Sie nicht' which of course just made Mrs Weasley angrier. So in one of their few moments alone on the second evening, Larna whispered to Fred,

'Tonight. I don't know how you're planning to change us from being cousins to being together, but you do it tonight. I can't stand the pretending anymore, I just want to laugh every time your mum glares at me.'

'Okay, okay!' Fred replied sharply. 'Now let me explain what will happen. We'll be in the living room before everyone else, so that when they come in...'

* * *

While all the Weasleys were upstairs getting ready for bed, Larna and Fred ran down to the living room. As soon as they heard footsteps on the stairs, Fred turned to Larna and pulled her close, kissing her gently on the lips. Right on cue, George walked in, and was so shocked that he walked back out again and then re-entered, wondering if he was hallucinating.

'Mum!' he shouted, wide-eyed. 'You've gotta come and see this!'

Fred and Larna broke apart from each other and looked at George innocently.

'Something the matter, Georgie?' Fred asked simply, smiling at his brother.

'You could say that, yes', George replied. 'Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't she our cousin?'

At that very moment, Mrs Weasley walked into the room.

'What is it, George? I'm really quite busy at the moment.' George simply gestured towards Larna and his twin, who had begun to embrace again.

'What in God's name do you two think you are doing!?' Molly exploded; a howler couldn't have been any more furious. Fred stayed remarkably calm, Larna thought, in comparison with Mrs. Weasley's outburst.

'Oh, hi mum, I'd like you to meet...' But that set Molly off like a firework before he even had time to finish.

'We've already met; she's been staying in this house for two blasted days! Now you sit there, Fred Weasley, and you explain to me why, in the name of Merlin's most baggy Y-fronts, you were just kissing your German cousin?!'

That was it, Larna couldn't hold it in any longer, so she let her amusement out in a huge fit of laughter. Through the hysterical giggling, Fred still maintained a poker face and said to his mum, 'German cousin? Did I say she was my German cousin? Oh, I'm sorry, must have been too much firewhisky; I meant English girlfriend. Isn't that right, Larna?'

'Yes Freddie, right you are. I'm sorry if my boyfriend has confused you, Mrs Weasley,' Larna replied - in perfect English. Now Molly looked completely furious; her face was as red as her hair! George, however, who was still in the room, looked blank for a few seconds, then, with a wink at Fred, his face lit up, and he grinned in ecstasy. 'Brilliant, Fred, brilliant! I think that has got to be one of the best pranks you've ever played!' Fred smiled right back at him, and replied, 'Thanks, Georgey. If I do say so myself, it was quite a good one.' By this time, Ginny had arrived and, having been in on the plan, was giggling quietly in the doorway. Molly, however, showed no signs of calming down and only looked worse after the twins' exchange, both of whom had been seemingly oblivious to her reaction. Now, Mrs Weasley cornered Larna, stepping closer and pointing her finger. 'Oh Merlin, she's in for it now,' thought Fred to himself, and put an arm around her protectively. Indeed, it looked like Molly's loudest and angriest rage had been saved for Larna –

'You cheeky swine!' Mrs Weasley screamed. 'How dare you play along with my wretched son's scheme! YOU made me believe you couldn't speak a word of English!...' And so she went on and on, while the whole family gathered in the front room to watch her rant and rave., while Fred's arm tightened around Larna, who didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Eventually she just zoned out so that when Molly advanced towards her, she nearly had a heart attack - '...and that's why I'm really pleased that Fred has found someone who cares for him, so, welcome to the family.' Mrs. Weasley finished, before embracing Larna in a big hug. That was what did it. Larna fainted, and as Molly let go of her, she hit the ground with a loud thud.

'Mum! What have you done to her?' Fred wailed, horrified. He immediately knelt on the floor by Larna's side.

'My head hurts,' Larna groaned - that was all she had chance for before Fred gripped her tightly.

'You know,' he began, 'For a split second before I realised you'd only fainted, I saw my life without you. Well, if you can call it 'life'. You see, without you, I wouldn't live, I'd simply exist. So please, promise me you'll never let me go, because I do not want to have an existence as lonely as that.'

With his words, Larna sat up from where she was lay on the living room floor - and realised the whole of the Weasley family was there and had heard every word. She blushed pink with embarrassment, before Mrs Weasley, in a much nicer voice than Larna had last heard, said,

'That's so sweet! My immature, childish son has finally grown up, thanks to you, Larna. Fred has finally found love in you, and something to focus on, besides pranking other people. How can I thank you for setting him on the straight and narrow?'

Larna groaned again and said, 'You can get me an ice pack.' Unfortunately, it did not have the desired effect, as no-one knew what one was. So instead, she stood up rather shakily and said, 'No, thank YOU, Mrs Weasley, for giving birth to my Mr Perfect.'

* * *

**AN: **This is the end of the story. I'm sorry it's quite short; it's the first one I've posted and I struggled for ideas. Thanks for those who have followed my story and look out for my next one, which will be differently themed. :)


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